Aalma ash-Shaab () is a municipality in the

Tyre District The Tyre District is a district in the South Governorate of Lebanon. Municipalities The following 72 municipalities are all located in the Tyre District: * Al-Aabbassiyah * Aaitit * Aalma ash-Shaab * Ain Abu Aabdallah * Ain az-Zarqa * Ain ...

, in Southern

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Etymology

According to E. H. Palmer, ’Alma means "a coat of mail"; while Shảub means "mountain spurs". According to Dr. Anis Freyha in his book " A Dictionary of the Names of Towns and Villages in Lebanon" 2nd edition 1985, page 117, he mentions that the root of the name is Semitic (עלם) and could mean "the hidden" or sexual maturity, the same in Phoenicians and Aramaic.

History

In 1875, during the late Ottoman period,

Victor Guérin Victor Guérin (; 15 September 1821 – 21 September 1890) was a French people, French intellectual, explorer and amateur archaeologist. He published books describing the geography, archeology and history of the areas he explored, which included ...

found here a village with 350 inhabitants, mostly Greek catholics, or

Maronite Maronites (; ) are a Syriac Christianity, Syriac Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant (particularly Lebanon) whose members belong to the Maronite Church. The largest concentration has traditionally re ...

. In 1881, the PEF's ''Survey of Western Palestine'' (SWP) described it: “A large Christian village, containing about 500 inhabitants. The houses are clean and well built. There are two chapels, and the place seems increasing in size. It is situated on a ridge, with figs, olives, and pomegranates and arable land around. To the east and north the land is covered with brushwood. There is a spring within reach, and about thirty rock-cut

cistern A cistern (; , ; ) is a waterproof receptacle for holding liquids, usually water. Cisterns are often built to catch and store rainwater. To prevent leakage, the interior of the cistern is often lined with hydraulic plaster. Cisterns are disti ...

s in the village.”

Modern era

In 2009, there were 400 members of the Saint-Élie parish of the Melkite Church in the village. Since the beginning of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, Shia Islamist group

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

has joined the conflict by launching rocket and drone attacks on the occupied

Shebaa farms The Shebaa Farms, also spelled Sheba'a Farms (, '; ''Havot Sheba‘a),'' also known as Mount Dov (), is a strip of land on the Lebanese–Syrian border that is currently occupied by Israel. Lebanon claims the Shebaa Farms as its own territory ...

and Israel from areas in southern Lebanon. As a result, at least 800 residents have fled the village out of fear of getting caught in the crossfire, leaving only about 100 remaining. Israel has conducted retaliatory strikes targeting what they claim is "Hezbollah infrastructure", which according to the deputy mayor, destroyed several structures in the village.

Demographics

In 2014

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

made up 98.06% of registered voters in Aalma ash-Shaab. 42.62% of the voters were Maronite Catholics and 39.19% were

Greek Catholics Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine-Catholic Church may refer to: * The Catholic Church in Greece * The Eastern Catholic Churches that use the Byzantine Rite, also known as the Greek Rite: ** The Albanian Greek Catholic Church ** The Belarusian Gre ...

Climate

References

Bibliography

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External links

Aalma ech Chaab
Localiban *Survey of Western Palestine, Map 3
IAAWikimedia commons
{{Authority control Populated places in the Israeli security zone 1985–2000 Populated places in Tyre District Maronite Christian communities in Lebanon Melkite Christian communities in Lebanon